


us against the nightmares.

by renathedragon



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: ANYWAYS I LOVE THESE TWO I HOPE U LOVE THEM TOO, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares, Oops, and it ended up being angsty, this was supposed to be fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 18:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renathedragon/pseuds/renathedragon
Summary: Boey seeks out Mae in the middle of the night after facing some difficult nightmares.Takes place during Chapter 4 of the game, so slight spoilers.





	us against the nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted... more Boey/Mae fics... OTL
> 
> Storyline spoilers from Chapter 4 of Echoes, and references Boey/Mae's A support.

“Mae?” The name is a quivering question on the tip of Boey’s tongue. He knows she’ll probably tease him for the fear in his voice, but at this point he really couldn’t care less about that.

She doesn’t reply, and he knows she’s probably asleep. He knocks, this time louder, and calls her name again. 

This time he hears ruffling, and the sound of Mae’s staggered footsteps as she makes her way to the door. 

She opens the door, rubbing her eyes with a loud yawn as she focuses on him.

“Boey…? What the heck are you doing here this late?” Her voice is groggy, grumpy and for a moment Boey almost regrets waking her up. 

He swallows. “I…uh… Do you mind if I stay with you for a bit?”

She raises an eyebrow at him, clearly awake now, and she notices his trembling hands. “…If you really want to, I guess it’s fine.” She opens the door wider for him to go in, and trudges back to her bed. “Although you did wake me up from my beauty sleep, so you better have a good reason.”

He’s clearly terrified, but Mae usually only ever sees him like this when they’re in the middle of a graveyard of Terrors, not in a safe village like Sage’s Hamlet. She lights a candle and places it on the table, and then falls back into a sitting position on her bed, looking at him expectantly. “Well?”

He sighs, wringing his hands as he pulls himself into a cross-legged position just beside her bed. It’s almost like a slumber party, but Mae knows the conversation topic probably isn’t going to be about crushes and the latest gossip. “…Have you ever thought… about what would happen if one of us died?”

 _Ah. Nightmares._ Mae should have known. She’s had a few of them herself, and although the thought of visiting Boey has crossed her mind in the middle of those nights when she’d wake up in a cold sweat, she has yet to do so. 

“…Isn’t it easier to not consider that it would happen? Celica’s been doing an amazing job at leading us, and besides the few major injuries that we managed to heal, we’ve been okay.”

“I mean, that’s true, but…”

“But…?”

He sighs. “I had… a nightmare. A nightmare where you died.”

There’s silence between them, where his words sink in an unpleasant way. 

“Well? Say something!” he looks at her with a frown, but the fear is still clear as day in his face.

“What am I supposed to say?” she replies softly. 

He falters at her tone. This isn’t the Mae where serious matters can become almost carefree banters. Facing death itself is very different from dancing with it, something they both know very well. It can become easy to take down Terrors and Duma Faithful when your survival depends on it, because the thought of any of them losing their lives to their enemies is almost unbearable. 

It’s at times like these, when Boey can see through the cracks in Mae’s bright, strong demeanor that he gets even more scared. By that point, it’s something that can’t be helped. But she’s human, just as much as he is. 

“…I’ve also had a couple nightmares like that.” Her voice is soft, and it’s almost like she’s been reduced to a child. 

“Where you died?” he looks up at her, and she’s looking at the floor.

“No. Where you died. Or Celica. Or Genny.”

He swallows and looks back at the floor. “Oh.”

“Have you had them before?”

“Well…yes, but never this bad.” He pulls himself out of his cross-legged position and hugs his knees to his body. “You were on the other side of the battlefield, and you got cornered, and I… I couldn’t get over there fast enough. There were… So many witches and you kept sinking deeper in the swamp… And when I finally got over there… You wouldn’t open your eyes no matter how many times I called your name.”

Mae sighs and pulls herself down from her bed to sit in front of him. She touches his hand, and he realizes she did it because his hands were shaking. He hadn’t even noticed. 

The vision of her lifeless figure in his arms is still vivid, and he squeezes his eyes shut as if the picture will go away if he does. 

“Hey, look at me.” Mae’s taken one of his hands in her own, although right now he’s in too sorry of a state to be embarrassed by it. He looks at her face, and she seems tired, but there is a solidness in her eyes he can’t draw himself away from. “I’m here now, aren’t I? Alive and well, and still fighting.”

“I mean, yes but—“

“No buts, you boob. Nightmares are terrifying, but they aren’t real. We’re both going to stay alive, and so is everyone, and we’re going to mop the floor with these dumb Duma Faithful, save Mila, and go back to the island happy, safe and sound. Okay?”

And just like that, he can already feel his worries draining away. As long as she’s there, and they’re together, they’ll be okay. He smirks at her. “Going back to the island? Who said we’re not going to go do other things?” 

Her cheeks flush, and he notices. “Wh-What do you mean ‘other things’?! Of course we’re going back to the island, isn’t that what you told me?! You said… You said you’d stick with me…” her voice trails off as her cheeks get even redder. 

Now he knows what conversation she’s referring to and he feels his own cheeks flush. “I...I was just checking if you remembered!”

“Yeah, sure.” She scoffs to brush it off, but he knows she’s still embarrassed. He wonders if she’s figured out how he really feels about her yet, and also wonders if the feelings are mutual. Lately she’s been getting slightly more flustered around him for certain things, but he doesn’t want to draw any conclusions or raise his hopes. 

Besides, right now isn’t the time for this kind of complication, anyways.

“Anyways, why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be back at your own room by now?” she pulls herself away from him and pulls herself back onto the bed. “I need to get back the beauty sleep you made me lose.”

“What beauty sleep? No amount of beauty sleep can fix _your face_ —“ He’s cut off as she throws a spare pillow at his face. 

“You’re one to talk. Anyways, begone with you. I have better things to do than argue with you this late at night.”

He stood up to go to the door, but then looked back reluctantly at her. “Actually… it doesn’t make sense to walk all the way back now. Do you mind if I just… sleep here?”

Her face turns completely red in a matter of a few seconds. “H-Huh?! Excuse me, but I’m a lady just as much as anyone else and asking to share a bed with me is completely—“ 

“Calm down you dope, I’m just going to sleep on the floor. You have a spare blanket and pillow there don’t you?”

She stutters on her words and then composes herself. With a “Hmph!” she throws the spare blanket and pillow at him, getting herself comfortable in her own bed as he prepares his. 

“You alright? Can I blow out the candle?”

There’s a grunt from her bed. For whatever reason, she’s going to pout now. He smiles a bit to himself. “Good night, Mae.”

There’s a pause, and then she adjusts herself in her blankets. “Good night, Boey.”

He blew the candle out, and that night, he didn’t have any more nightmares at all.


End file.
